Samsung Is Reportedly Buying Boxee for $30 Million

The winner is Samsung.

Boxee, which makes a small set-top device that dubs itself the “world’s first cloud DVR,” has been reportedly purchased by Samsung. Israeli news site The Marker says the electronic giant has purchased the company, headquartered in New York but with a large Israeli presence, for about $30 million.

Boxee declined to comment on the accuracy of the report.

The company employs 40, evenly split between Boxee’s Israeli offices and New York. It’s expected that they will retain their jobs as Samsung is “expected to use the capabilities” that Boxee provides for the company’s televisions. As the Verge notes, Samsung’s smart TV unit has struggled due to its cluttered design.

Rumors of Boxee’s acquisition were first reported by Venturebeat last month, after another $30 million round of financing failed to materialize. So far, Boxee had raised $26.5 million (according to CrunchBase), meaning no one’s getting an UberCHOPPER ride out of this deal.

Update, 1:06 p.m.: Samsung has confirmed the report to All Things D:

“Samsung has acquired key talent and assets from Boxee,” a spokesperson for Samsung said. “This will help us continue to improve the overall user experience across our connected devices.”

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